A Gentle Hero
by Snowneco
Summary: It began at the Naughty Ottsel too early in the morning while the demolition duo are unable to sleep.
1. A Gentle Hero

Authors note: fluffy fluff between Jak and Daxter.

Disclaimer: I do not own Jak, Daxter, Naughty Dog etc.

**2AM**

Jak was a lot of things, brave, heroic, strong, noble, and modest. But what most people fail to appreciate is how he _really _is with Daxter. Sure he may use the fur ball as a gambling chip, or trap him to a certain shoulder about to do an unbelievably stupid feat. But when it came down to it, he was gentle.

Daxter hooted with laughter that was slowly becoming breathless. Silent yelps convulsed his chest and the animal rolled about as much as he could. His thick orange tail swayed rigidly and his hind legs kicked out against his attacker, up in gawky strikes until it came in contact with a squishy gut.

The blonde was always able to overpower the redhead, but only rarely did he appreciate the advantage he got from being four times his size.

His fingers played across the ottsel's ribcage and every now and again gave him a poke or prod in the side, until Daxter was crying 'uncle' for mercy.

Jak just guessed it was uncle, he wasn't as skilled in lip reading as his best friend who had lived with a mute for ten years.

He paused for a minute and gave a short chuckle, decidedly letting Daxter take a few breaths before continuing his underserving torture. He'd held his fuzzy little charge's shoulders to the ground and two long trails of water blinked from his eyes into the orange fur beside his ears. Daxter's clawed feet pushed against Jak's belly and he stared firmly.

"I hate you so much."

"C'mon, Dax." Jak leaned back onto his knees and released his captor, "you don't mean that."

Daxter saw the make-believe hurt in his friend's eyes and raised himself to his elbows, "yes I do. I hate you more than anything. Ever."

Jak lunged forward and pinned him again, driving a huge raspberry into the fur on his belly, "no, you don't!"

Daxter couldn't even remember how this had all began. Something about the two untouched, steaming hot coco's on the bench, something about insomnia and then another thing about how Jak should probably mop the floors soon because he does nothing all day every day. _There it is,_ Dax thought, _that what started all this._ And then Jak began doing as he was told – mopping with Daxter's furry back. Only jokingly and gently of course. And then the tickling began…

"Ow, ow, stop! Jak, oh precursors, stop!" Daxter yelled with every chance he could.

"Hey!" Jak stopped and held him down tightly, suddenly stern though no facial expression could mask that teenage humour when having a good time with one's best friend. "No blasphemy!"

Daxter laughed quickly, "it's not blasphemy. It's self-worship."

Jak lowered himself and plucked Dax's goggles away, dangling them about like a jelly fish. His eyebrows fell over his eyes and mouth formed a long thin line of amusement. "You mean self-love?"

Daxter squawked and leaped for Jak's hair, hopping to higher ground for better goggle retrieval. "You're the one who's always beating things, remember?" he smiled and reached an arm out, leaning over the blonde's hair, "jerk."

With a long windup he jumped and collected the goggles in a palm to be scooped up in mid-air by two big hands. Jak laughed and hugged his friend – who could only manage a choke hold around his neck.

"You don't really hate me, Dax."

"Nah, I couldn't. Not ever. Not even hate tall, dark and gruesome." Blue eyes locked on blue and they fell down in a chuckling heap on the floor, hot cocoa now too cold to drink, but neither really cared.

The gentle hero and the small deity deciding the floor of the abandoned Naughty Ottsel was as good as any to sleep.

And sleep they finally did.


	2. Alone

Daxter inspected the curious orange weasel in the mirror. He lifted his foot, wiggled his toes and placed it back to the ceramic bench.

It had been a normal morning up until now. Lack of sleep and malnutrition had led to him being disheartened by almost everything.

"You nearly ready, Dax?" A voice called from the other room.

Daxter barely heard it. Only replying with a squint and tilt of his head.

Of course the rest of the world thought he was an animal. And he hated it. It was the way people looked at him. The way they looked at Jak. A dull, peculiar kid with a pet on his shoulder. A pet he called a friend. How sad...

Most people didn't understand he wasn't a talking animal, he was a human. Everyone in Sandover Village knew, not even a week after they returned from Gol and Maia's citadel, that he was the red headed boy. Oh, how satisfying it was to see Uncle's face burn as he realised the ottsel was the one he referred to as 'little annoying, miserably ugly one' behind his back. And yeah okay, people treated him like glass, or like he had a disorder. They had dubbed him an ottsel; his own name for what he was. But there was no change in the way people acted to him. This new world of Haven (they were still adjusting to) had no idea where the term ottsel had come from.

They had no clue an ottsel was a man-turned-beast, or under all this fur was a human soul. Or was his human sole-turned-precursor? He hadn't changed with the dark eco, his body had. One thing was certain, Daxter _wasn't_ an animal.

Daxter _was _a human.

_Was_. Was meant _used to be_. And if he used to be a human and he wasn't an animal, he didn't feel very godly, so what was he really?

Daxter squatted on his awkward back legs and rubbed one eye, placing the other paw to the glass. Watching his own reflection mimic him. It was something he should be used to, after four years anyways.

Jak pulled on his heavy boots and kicked his feet off the bed, sitting with his legs apart and hands hanging limp from his knees.

"Jak?" Daxter trotted timidly into the room, dusting his front paws as he stood up straight.

Jak looked up from the captivating chip in the cement floors, "Hey. Did you hear me I-" the blonde drew his fingers through that thick hair and prepared his goggles. He was stopped mid-way as his stomach gave a revolting flip, something was definitely wrong. "You alright, bud?"

"Yeah, yeah, I'm okay."

"You're quiet. And you're never just 'okay'."

Daxter didn't like to complain, not after everything Jak had been through. The pain of falling in the dark eco was excruciating and brief. But Jak, he'd had it injected for two whole years. It used to make Daxter cringe, just imagining what that would be like.

But then again, the light balanced out the dark. "What am I, Jak?"

"You're a precursor." Came the simple response. "An ottsel. What else could you be?"

Daxter opened his mouth to speak. He could tell straight away any attempt of noise would be futile. Instead, he gave a quick shrug.

"Come here." Jak gestured to the bed at his side. "Why are you asking this?"

"It's … nothing. It's okay, really."

The blonde nudged his shoulder with the back of his hand, "sometimes, I'm sad about nothing too. I guess even things like us can't be happy all the time, huh?"

"Things like us?" So he was a … thing?

"Well yeah, I'm probably more eco than I am human. Aren't we a pair of, I don't know, things?" The man laughed, "hey, you go back to sleep, you didn't get much. We'll stay home today, alright?" And Jak didn't give Daxter the time to protest; he'd kicked off his shoes, abandoned his goggles and slumped down to the pillow.

Daxter waited until Jak was definitely asleep and he curled up, back to back, before he started welcoming sleep.

What did it matter anymore? He might have been an animal, a god, a _thing_. It didn't make any difference. Because there was one thing he _wasn't_.

Alone.

* * *

A/N: Updated whenever I write a chapter, so if you like- follow because (I'm really sorry) they won't be scheduled just yet. These will be little drabbles from writers block with a timeline. A big thank you to the wonderful favouriters, Blackbird1313, CatRocker66, JadenStrife, Rainbowz95, and Pr-anx. Also the singular fantastic reviewer, DarkEcoFreak. You have all kept this baby going, and for that motivation, I thank you.

Much love,

Sunny


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